“I don’t believe you.”
I felt a surge of hysteria rising in me, and I ran, and he came after me. I saw, out of the side of my eyes, a pole with a blue light at the top, and I ran toward it. But before I got there, I saw a couple of students with blue Tshirts on standing near a building, so I changed direction and ran toward them. I could hear Lloyd behind me. I stopped in front of the pair.
“What’s going on here?” the girl said.
“He’s threatening me,” I answered, my hands on my knees. I bent forward to try to catch my breath.
“I’m going to be the father to her baby,” he yelled out, and the smile on his face transformed it into something grotesque.
“It doesn’t matter who you are if you’re trying to hurt her,” she said.
“Yeah? You think I want to hurt my baby?” Lloyd lurched toward her.
She stood her ground and stared at him, ignoring his stance.
“Back up,” the boy said and took a step toward Lloyd. Lloyd seemed startled at his presence, as if he hadn’t registered another person had been there all along. The girl unclipped the walkie-talkie on her hip and requested backup. The sound of static and an official-sounding woman’s voice saying, “Situation?” seemed to startle Lloyd even more.
“You’ll regret this. I know who you are,” he shouted at the girl. Then he raised a fist toward the boy and said, “You too.” The boy didn’t flinch, and Lloyd backed away, spinning around on his heels and running diagonally through the quad. Relief rose in tears to my eyes as he disappeared into the distance.
“You okay?” the boy asked.
“Thank you,” I said.
“You should report him,” the girl said.
96
“You’re right. We have to save the baby,” I tell Lloyd and shake Faye off. Faye looks at me with hurt in her eyes.
YOU’RE NOT MAD ABOUT YOUR MOTHER?
I look at him the way I’ve been trained to look at my father. “You went all the way to Lakeburg like you did that time you helped me, when my mom was in the hospital. I was thinking that was really nice of you to do that. Go all the way there even when I treated you horribly. Been thinking you were always a good friend. Good friend to Jaesung. Good friend to me. You’re right—I cut and run all the time. Too much, really. Even with this pregnancy. Hard when I feel so sick all the time, you know? Is the car ready? Call Sax back and tell him we’re in a hurry. I have to use the bathroom. One of the problems with being pregnant.”
“Don’t, Yoona, don’t do this,” Faye pleads.
THE BATHROOM? IS THAT SOME SORT OF TRICK?
“I’ll use the bathroom far away from here once we have the car and the money. It was my parents who really wanted me not to have this baby. You took care of that problem, so I can deal with it now. You went overboard, like you do, but you saved me, really.”
YOU THINK I SAVED YOU?
“We have to hurry now if it’s going to work.”
WHAT’S GOING TO WORK?
“I didn’t go home because they gave me hell on the phone about it. Typical.” As I talk, I have to speak in a low voice. My head is pounding, a dozen microscopic hammers battering me in different tempos inside.
“Look out the window and see what they’re doing out there. I’ll get the girls ready.”
He looks confused.
“Honestly, that temporary FBI thing Sax said sounds like a lie. Serena said something about it, but it sounded fake.”
SERENA’S A BITCH.
“We have to bring them both, don’t you think? We don’t know who we will have to use to get through whatever roadblock they’ll set up. You know they’ll try once we’re out of the building. Maybe we’ll need Serena too. Maybe we should stop by her dorm, if they haven’t evacuated the campus.”
BUT HE SAID PRESIDENT REAGAN IS GOING TO FREE JAESUNG.
“Did he? I didn’t hear that. I heard some bullshit about you being made part of the FBI.”
“Yoona, why are you saying that? She’s wrong, Lloyd. Don’t listen to her.” Faye pulls at my arm.
“Jaesung always said you were gullible. Really smart but gullible,” I tell him.
Lloyd looks from me to Faye. Then he looks down at the handgun, his thumb caressing the handle.
“What are you doing, Yoona?” Faye hisses.
Lloyd looks straight at me, and I don’t blink. DON’T LET THEM GET CLOSE TO THE DOOR OR ELSE THEY’LL ESCAPE. YOU REALLY THINK HE’S LYING? There’s a flicker of the old Lloyd who came to Weston a month ago.
“Is the car ready?” I say.
Lloyd backs up to the window, and when he turns his head, I point to Heather for Faye to help her up.
I CAN SEE THE VAN. THEY’RE FILLING IT WITH BRIEFCASES. IT MUST BE THE MONEY. THE MAN WITH THE RED HAT IS GONE.
“See? Sax is trying to make sure you feel safe,” I say, and I’ve got my arm around Heather now, and I motion Faye to follow with a finger to my mouth signaling her to be quiet. Faye takes Heather’s arm, and Heather whimpers in pain. We make our way to the door.
IT’S A CHEVY LIKE MY DAD HAS. I’LL TELL SAX TO PUT A MEDICAL KIT IN FOR HEATHER. YOU’RE RIGHT—WE’LL NEED HER.
I nudge the desk with my hip and shove it over with my free hand. Just a few more steps and we’ll be at the door.
97
Lloyd picks up the phone with a smile on his face, as if a load is off his shoulders. I’M GOING TO TAKE CARE OF EVERYTHING, he tells me. Into the phone, he shouts, YOU TRIED TO FOOL ME WITH THAT TEMPORARY FBI SHIT, SAX. BUT WE DIDN’T FALL FOR IT.
“Who’s ‘we,’ Lloyd? Who didn’t fall for what?”
‘WE’ MEANS ME AND YOONA. WE HAVE PLANS. IT’S GOING TO BE ALL RIGHT NOW. TELL PRESIDENT REAGAN TO INFORM CHUN DOO HWAN AND KIM IL SUNG THAT WE HAVE JAESUNG KIM’S BABY. THEY HAVE TO FREE HIM. HE’S AN AMERICAN. AND, IF WE HAVE TO, WE’LL EXPOSE THE KCIA SPY WHO IS WITH HIM. I’M NOT GOING TO LET MY BEST FRIEND SUFFER BECAUSE OF HIM.
“Stay in front of me,” I tell Faye as loudly as I can manage with my stomach in knots and nausea rising in my throat. “Come on, Heather, a little further.”
“Yoona, what are you doing?” Faye says and refuses to move.
“Open the door, Faye,” I tell her. “I got Heather.” We pivot so we are sideways to Lloyd. And she uses her right hand to open the door. I can feel cool air. “Move toward it, that’s right,” I continue.
DON’T GO YET, YOONA. SAX SAYS FIVE MINUTES. Lloyd’s voice is steady.
“Just seeing if anyone is in the hall,” I tell him without looking back.
BUT THEN THEY CAN ESCAPE. YOU DON’T KNOW, BUT—STOP, CLOSE THE DOOR.
“Now,” I say to Faye. I push Heather toward the door so she stumbles into Faye, who is now in the hallway.
I’LL BLOW A HOLE STRAIGHT THROUGH ALL OF YOU.